the first Certified Passivhaus in England, by Seymour-Smith Architects

2nd August 2010

Today is finally “plastering day”. It makes a huge difference finally covering up the pink plasterboard – definitely nearing the end now…

The other great excitement today is the installation of our fantastic Parans fibre optic lighting panel. The array of lenses track the sun throughout the day…

… channelling the sunlight through fibre optic cables some 20 metres into the building. A bit like a sun tube, but without the heat loss – ingenious.

looking down the slope, it is, satisfyingly, finally all coming together…

4th August 2010

Our curved ceiling panels have arrived!

these are really starting to add a bit of va-va-voom to the space

and by the end of the day, look very groovy, and make a big difference to the acoustics too. amazing how rigid boards can make such a difference, but they really do...

5th August 2010

paving is progressing fantastically – all the chaps have been working incredibly hard (unlike the impression given in this picture)

and another big excitement (lots of those at the moment!), as our wonderful Rundum Mier garage door is being fitted. This will slide all the way around the opening to the right – and even around a corner at the back of the garage to open completely.

6th August 2010

Chris and Jim contemplate the bits of oak which Jim is about to magic into our dining table – and cor! look at that garage door!

Outside, the chaps from CB solar shading have returned to commission our external blinds, now that they have been surrounded by insulation and render. These work automatically, lowering when necessary to prevent overheating – clever, eh?

On the other side, the PV panels are being fixed to our new framework. Not only will these generate lots of lovely green electricity and a decent income from the feed-in-tariff, they also double as solar shading, preventing the rooms on this side of the house (which don’t have external blinds) from overheating in the summer.

and inside, a splash of colour is being added to the fire surround (who said architects only go for white?!)